Bent popped up on the right and cut in before squaring a measured pass to Weimann, whose left foot shot from 12 yards was too powerful for goalkeeper Raul Fernandex, who got a hand to it, but couldn’t keep it out.

Villa just about deserved it on the balance of play.

The stats sheets circulated at half-time showed that Villa were on top in terms of attacking statistics, attempting six shots to the hosts’ two and getting four on target to the one of Dallas.

Mat sent this video at the start of his trip. Looks pretty demanding out there

Weimann himself tested Fernandez early on with a cross shot from a tight angle on the right, which forced a routine save from the Peruvian netminder.

Gary Gardner also extended Fernandez with a mis-hit sliced half volley that had to be guided to safety by the keeper as it threatened to drop under the crossbar.

Fernandez’s best save came when he parried an Enda Stevens drive around the post after a driving run from Leandro Bacuna opened up space for the lesser-spotted left-back to try his luck from the edge of the area.

Shay Given, captain for the first half, was called into action towards the end of the first period, getting down quickly to save an angled shot from Dallas skipper Matt Hedges with his feet.

Oscar Pareja’s team are second in the Major League Soccer Western Conference, but lacked the clinical instincts to hurt Villa before the interval.

Andres Escobar, wearing the No.91 shirt, was a case in point when he wastefully blazed over the bar after the quick feet of Mauro Diaz caused momentary disarray in the Villa defence.

There were some crunching tackles flying in from the claret and blues and true to form Chris Herd produced a brusing foul which prompted the referee to have a quiet word with the Aussie.

Villa played the first half with a 4-5-1 formation, with Given in goal and Herd in front of a back four made up of full-backs Alan Hutton and Stevens and a central pairing of Jores Okore and Nathan Baker.

Weimann played wide right, Grealish wide left with Gardner and Bacuna patrolling just in front of Herd and Bent leading the line on his own up front.

It was all change, well nearly, at the break as Lambert made 10 changes, partly to look at more of his squad and partly to allow the players to get their breath back in temperatures of 27 degrees.

Given was the only player retained, as the claret and blues adopted a 4-3-3 shape for the second period.

There was a debut for Philippe Senderos, who was partnered in central defence by Ciaran Clark, with Matt Lowton at right back and Joe Bennett at left-back.

The midfield had a familiar look to it as the regular trip of Karim El Ahmadi, Ashley Westwood and Fabian Delph patrolled the centre of the park.

Up front Gabby Agbonlahor spearheaded the three-pronged attack, playing through the middle with N’Zogbia on the right and Kiran Richardson on the left.

The new look attack struck almost instantly. A speedy Agbonlahor burst was stopped illegally by Nick Walker, who received a yellow card for his troubles.

The Southfork shooter who wounded Larry Hagman’s JR in the popular 1980s soap could follow the ruthless example of N’Zogbia when it comes to target practice.

N’Zogbia stepped up to take the 48th minute free-kick from just inside the box and announced his return by smashing a fierce effort over the wall and past Richard Sanchez.

It gave Sanchez no chance and indeed the substitute goalkeeper’s first involvement after entering the action at half-time was to pick the ball out of the net.

Villa seemed steadier after the break, no doubt helped by extending their advantage, with N’Zogbia looking to get behind his marker down the Dallas left.

Delph warmed up for the season with a trademark yellow card just after the hour mark. For much of the remainder of the match Villa were prepared to probe gently, rather than exert too much energy in search of a third.

There were momentary scares when Clark’s clearance whizzed too close to comfort to his own goal, while the defender had Senderos to thank for coming to the rescue with an important block with a long, outstretched leg after Tesho Akindele got the better of him.

It was a glorified passing drill for Villa in the closing stages, although N’Zogbia did come close to adding his second and the team’s third when his shot was saved by Snachez late on.